Blood isn't green
by Megan McAlistair
Summary: One night Robin gets turned into a vampire. Soon he learns that being alive is a simple matter of attitude.
1. Prolog: Bite me

The night was a usual one. The moon was a faint crescent on the dark sky that was brightened by the restless activity of the city above. The stars were hard to make out due to that.

All the better for the criminal that was currently fleeing throught the twisted alleys of Jump City. He had broken into a Jewelry and stolen a couple of necklaces. He was dressed like your ordinary bankrobber. Dressed in black with a black balaclava over his face, leaving nothing but the eyes to be seen.

The Titans had split up. Raven and Starfire were searching the sky. Beastboy followed a scent, that he believed to be the robber's. Cyborg scanned the area with his sensors and Robin had immediately chased the robber down the alleys, losing the others before they even knew he was gone.

He wasn't far behind the culprit. Only about ten metres. Then the robber rounded another corner, but when Robin did the same he was nowhere to be seen.

Had he ducked behind one of the trashcans?

He didn't have much time to think about it, when someone landed on his shoulders. The weight forced him down to his knees, the person jumped off him. When he looked up his vision was strangely clouded. His head was dizzy and he blinked to see clear again. The person that stood in front of him knelt down before him and leaned towards his ear. He couldn't make out any details.

„On the verge of death you must drink the blood of a vampire to become one. I shall bring you there", the person whispered.

The next thing he felt was a sharp pain in the region of his aorta.

After that his memory went hazy.

The only clear thing a distant laughter in the dark.


	2. Tell me I'm dreaming

I awoke to a sudden feeling of weakness. Like I fell asleep in the sun and when I woke up I was incredibly lethargic and couldn't really move. I opened my eyes. My room was bright but the only actual sunshine was on my foot that stuck out from under the covers. Instinctively I pulled it away from the light and the feeling of weakness passed. That was weird.

I blinked again, what exactly had happened the night before? I had been chasing that criminal, the corner, the person, the whisper, the pain...

I put my hand on my neck, only to notice that there was a band-aid on it. 'Okay, weird', I thought to myself. How exactly had I returned to my bed? Who had put the band-aid on? And what had happened?

I decided getting up was the best way to find out. Unfortunately the standing up caused my body to be fully exposed to the sunlight. Which was a bad thing apparently, because I ended up crouching in the only dark corner of his room, snarling. Yes, crouching. And yes, snarling.

That had happened so fast I only realized I had moved when I was already getting upright again. 'Weird', I thought again and frowned deeply.

I really should figure out what was going on. I wasn't developing Heliophobia, was I? That would be very bad since I usually worked during the day. Of course I could still go back to being a nocturnal hero, like in the times with Batman. But before I jumped to solutions I should probably figure out the problem first. That was a good plan. A very good plan indeed. I braced his body for the „impact" and stepped to my window to close the curtains. It was like touching a wire again willingly after you already received a shock the first time. Horrible but manageable.

As soon as my room was drowned in relative darkness I felt at ease. The curtains still let through a lot of light, but nothing direct. I got dressed. In the mirror I looked quite pale, even rivalling Raven, but that might have been due to the illumination.

I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I didn't bother turning the lights on, I knew where everything was. Something was odd about the way the brush was gliding over my teeth but I didn't think much of it. After all, it might be the same thing that had made my afraid of the sun.

I made my way to the common room. It faced north so there was no direct sunlight in it. Good thing. Thirst made me open the fridge before doing anything else, or alerting anyone to my presence for that matter.

Beastboy and Cyborg were playing „Urge for Velocity XI". Raven was reading a book and Starfire was watching the race. BB was moving around on the couch like it would influence the game. That annoyed Raven to no end. She used her powers to pause the game.

„Hey, Raven, what was that for?", Cyborg complained. „Beastboy, I bet you to sit very still for the next twenty minutes and I will race you, if you lose you will set the thing on mute, deal?", she glared at him and held out her hand. She had long learned that simply complaining wasn't going to help. „Bet, I won't lose for sure", he sounded confident. But he sounded confident with almost everything he did so it was no indication for whether he would win or not.

Beastboy neatly folded his legs beneath him and straightened his back. He took a few moments to find the most comfortable position, then he grinned at Cyborg and resumed the game. They were hard at it again and I could see a stressed artery on Beastboy's neck. It was pulsing from his fight to sit still and not wriggle around.

I shrugged and took out the OJ. I poured myself a glass but when the smell hit my nose I didn't want to drink it anymore. It didn't smell awful, just not like something I'd drink or eat. 'How weird', I thought once again and put the glass back. Still nobody had noticed I was there. Maybe Raven had sensed my but she obviously hadn't bothered telling anyone.

I liked being unnoticed for a change. Although I did enjoy getting attention, being the silent shadow was nice for a change. It made my feel darker. More like Batman.

I stepped directly behind Beastboy and a delicious scent hit my. It was mouthwatering. But where did it come from? And why hadn't anyone jumped to eat it? Especially Cyborg, since it smelled faintly of something alive and Beastboy was a vegetarian after all.

The artery was still pulsating. It was a mesmerizing rhythm, right with his heartbeat. Bumb, bumb, bumb. I leaned in closer. The scent got much stronger. Was it coming from the green shapeshifter? There was only one way to find out.

I bared my teeth and sank them right into my friend's neck, hands on his shoulders. I felt the hot blood pouring into my mouth, the instantaneous relief from thirst and all worries. What I didn't feel was the shapeshifter's struggle to get out of my grip, away from my teeth. I didn't feel the horrorstruck faces of the others either.

I sucked the warm liquid until my hunger was satiated. Then I pulled away, contented. I licked my lips, eyes closed in pleasure. When I opened them again I faced eight disbelieving eyes.

„Dude, did you just... drink my blood?", asked Beastboy. Everyone else was speechless, including me.

„I-I'm...", I stammered but couldn't make much sense of it either. I had just sucked blood from Beastboy. There was an uncomfortable silence.

„It doesn't hurt", Beastboy said suddenly. „It doesn't?", I was surprised. „Nope, not one bit", he flexed his shoulders while still holding his hand over the bitemark. „Maybe you're venomous", Raven speculated. „But I don't want to die! I'm too young, too beautiful", he threw his arms up in the air in exasperation.

„You're not going to die", I told him. Under normal circumstances I would have rolled my eyes but not now. I had sucked his blood after all.

„Do you know that or do you think that?", Cyborg asked. „Something in between", I admitted. Beastboy had his eyes fixed on my mouth. Somewhat understandable, he probably didn't want it anywhere near him ever again.

„But why did you drink Beastboy's blood?", Starfire wondered, deep concern in her voice. I shrugged. „ I don't know, Starfire, I just don't know", I shook my head.

„Grin", said Beastboy. I was confused. „What? Why should I-?", I started but Raven interrupted me. „Grin", she demanded, too. I obyed, though it was more a baring of teeth than a grin. Obviously they were looking for exactly that.

„Dude", said Cyborg. „Very disturbing", commented Raven. Beastboy just flashed a wide grin, though I didn't really know why.

Starfire stared at me, she put her hand on my jaw und forced me to part my teeth a bit. She looked a bit shocked. I still didn't get why. Then she did something that was totally not understandable for me. She reached out with her index-finger and touched the tip of one of my cuspids. It felt strange but that didn't say much, considering everything felt pretty strange this morning and the only one to feel my teeth until now had been my dentist, so my frame of reference was pretty much off.

„Awesome, now I'm not the only one with fangs anymore", Beastboy finally brought out. At first his words didn't seem to make much sense. Who else had grown fangs? Not Raven, not Starfire, not Cyborg. It had to be me!

My eyes widened. I stumbled backwards and almost fell. „I've grown fangs?", I was more than shocked to hear that. I darted to my room. Surprisingly enough it didn't take me very long. I was faster than ever. I was there in seconds. But I couldn't concern myself with that just yet. I had to see it for myself. I switched on the light in my bathroom, went to the mirror and pulled back my lips.

Shock.

I really had fangs. They were undeniably there. Without a doubt, my canines had become incredibly beastlike. And with those teeth I had bitten Beastboy.

But why?


	3. Recent developments

A/N: I know, it's been, what, a year since I've updated? Well, I had originally planned to never go back to this story because I didn't know where I was going with it but now I know. And the summary makes me think that somehow I've always known, hella weird. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

We were sitting in the infirmary where Cyborg had scanned me thoroughly.

„You're a Vampire", Raven said plainly. „What? No! It can't be. Why do you think that?", I shook my head violently.

Out of nowhere came a blackboard with stuff written on it. Raven stood before it with a pointer in her hand. She pointed at the first point on the board.

„You are heliophobic. You have fangs. You drank Beastboy's blood. You are faster than a normal human. You were bitten by someone last night. That person said something about vampires", she read out for all of us to hear.

„I guess you're right", I hung my head down and sighed. „What is a vampire?", Starfire asked me. „They're creatures of the night. They drink the blood of humans, sometimes killing them. They fear the sun and they say you can only kill them by driving a stake through their heart", I summarized.

„Is it not very difficult to pierce flesh with meat?", she sounded puzzled. At first I didn't know what she meant but then I got it. „Not that kind of steak. A wooden stake", I specified. „Oh", she made.

„So I'm not going to be a vampire because I didn't drink any of your blood?", Beastboy frowned. He still held his hand of his neck. I guessed it was to keep the blood from flowing. Or he had had glue on his hand and now he couldn't remove it. With Beastboy both were equally possible.

„That's right", I nodded.

„Let me see your wound", Raven demanded. She had already taken out a band-aid similar to the one I had. Beastboy frowned and put his hand down. If Raven had been someone else she would have gasped. This way she only raised an eyebrow.

„What? Is it infected?", he sounded slightly hysteric to me. He was an expert in picking up Raven's tiny mood-swings and reactions.

„No, it's gone", she told us. He got a mirror. In the place where I had bitten him the only thing left was a bit of skin irritation. Which made itself visible by a darker shade of green. „Dude", was the only thing he said.

He silently examined his neck further by flexing the skin between his thumb and index finger.

"The question is: How do we reverse this?", I asked my friends.

"Why reverse it? If we can get a zombie to bite you, too you'll be like Zombire!", Beastboy grinned.

"Who is Zombire?", Starfire cocked her head.

"He's half zombie half vampire. He always hides his face under a mask and fights crime. He appears, beats up the bad guys with his special powers and then disappears into the night", the green skinned mutant was so touched by his own tale that a few tears ran down his face.

"You mean just like what we're doing already?", Raven asked him. That shut Beastboy up.

The alarm rang. "Aw man", Cyborg groaned and darted for the door. I was about to stand up when Raven pushed me back down. "You stay here, the sun is still shining", she said and disappeared in the shadows.

I stared at the spot where she had just been a few seconds ago.

I had been left behind, left behind for a good reason. I was no use. No use in the sun.

The only thing I could do was stay here and hope for them to return safely.

I sighed in indignation and got out of the bed.

I couldn't even go play some videogames because the sun had moved and was now brightly illuminating every corner of that room. My only option for entertainment was reading a book in my room. I decided to make it Stanley Baron's Glowing. A little bit of horror was going to make me feel better.

Halfway through it I noticed something very disturbing. I was getting hungry again.

I wondered what I was going to do about that. I could hardly drink from Beastboy again. My other friends were ruled out for obvious reasons. Cyborg had no blood, Starfire's alien blood may not exactly agree with me and that only left Raven. For some reason I had an intense respect for her. I had always respected her but now it was bordering on fear. I couldn't even say why I was so afraid of her. Every time she was in the same room as I was I wanted to fall to my knees and pledge my allegiance to her. Which really wasn't a normal thing to want to do.

They returned, shoulders slumped and bitter. "What happened?", I asked them. "Dr. Light, he got away", Raven summarized. "We accomplished to imprison his accomplices though", Starfire smiled. "Accomplices? Since when does Dr. Light have accomplices?", I frowned. "Seems to be a recent development", Cyborg pressed out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there", I lowered my head. "It's okay, dude, it's not your fault", Beastboy tried to cheer me up. Being so close to him let me gat a good nose full of his delicious smell. The physical exercise had probably helped with that. I drew my eyes away from his carotid forcefully and turned my head away.

"Yes it is", I whispered.


	4. Dinner

A/N: 19 reviews from an anonymous person… either I have 19 fans that are excited or just one who's REALLY excited… either way it made me happy

* * *

My finger hovered over the button of the telephone. Should I really call him? Would he even be able to help me? Was it really a good idea to talk to him about vampires considering his recent encounter with Dracula and all? I honestly didn't know.

Circumstances made the decision for me because in that very moment the alarm started to ring again. I glanced outside, not a single ray of sunshine left, perfect.

I couldn't keep the smirk off my face when I mounted my motorcycle.

It was almost as if I could _feel_ the night outside these walls, hear it calling to me.

On the streets I was going faster than I ever had, but still felt like I was in control. Maybe being a vampire wasn't so bad after all.

"Looks like Dr. Light is at it again", Raven commented, when she saw the culprit arise from the dust cloud in his trademark suit.

"Gee, can't that guy give us a break?", Cyborg sighed.

"Time to test out my new abilities", I took off my helmet and breathed in the night air. Starfire threw me a concerned glance.

Raven wrapped herself in shadows and went to keep him from fleeing, along with Beastboy who had turned into a hawk. The rest of us followed.

The villain fired a heavy salvo of light blasts, obviously not having gotten over his fear he attacked Raven first. She couldn't react fast enough and was hit in the chest, falling a few metres.

Beastboy meanwhile transformed into a pterodactyl and rammed him from behind. This seemed to trigger an automatic mechanism in his suit because it released an intense light wave. I was momentarily blinded by it.

"Ha, you couldn't catch me then, what makes you think you can catch me now?", he sneered from atop the building.

"I do!", Starfire shouted and attacked him with some blasts of her own. Some of them he dodged, some of then he countered with his own, in the end he triggered another light wave.

But this time I was prepared. Even with closed eyes it was easy to make out his steps. I took out my bo staff and tried kicking his legs out from under him but he was too fast, so I hit him in the side with my staff. He stumbled a few steps and I opened my eyes again. I saw Cyborg and Raven prepare a joined strike when Dr. Light spotted them as well. He fired off another salvo and in something that I couldn't quite explain I jumped in the way of the bolts, shielding Raven.

I had been hit by his bolts before but never had it been this painful. It felt like they were burning through my flesh, searing, hot, charring.

Before I knew it I was on all fours, panting. This was not normal, not normal indeed.

Why had I jumped so foolishly to protect Raven, who probably could have protected herself?

Why were these blasts suddenly that much worse?

Why was my mind slowly slipping away?

Everything around me suddenly seemed coated in… glass. Every edge, every speck of dust, everything was strangely sharp all of a sudden. Everything was so clear, yet I couldn't act according to it.

My control over my limbs was slowly slipping away, I couldn't move an inch. My body didn't seem to be bothered by that, though. It happily stood up again, growled a bit at our enemy and went into a strange crouching fighting stance.

Then there was the rage, infernal, primal rage. He had tried to weaken me, he had tried to destroy me, he had tried to kill me.

And I was hungry.

I bared my fangs.

"Beastboy, don't go near him!", I heard Raven shout but I didn't really care why she was saying that.

I only wanted Dr. Light and nothing else.

To the left, to the right, that man didn't know where to look, I was too fast for his eyes.

Too fast for him to blast me.

Before he knew it I had knocked him to the ground, hovering over him with a triumphant grin.

Oh yes, I was hungry.

I could hear his fast-beating heart, smell his delicious scent, feel the material of his suit tearing as I ripped it open and finally taste his blood as I sank my teeth into his neck.

Oh, delicious, warm, sweet blood.

So much, so tasty, no restrictions.

With every mouthful I felt the power inside me grow. I wanted more, more of it, more than he could ever give me-

"That's enough, Robin!"

A hand pulled me away from my victim.

It was Raven, invoking that strange feeling of subservience in me again.

Then I saw them.

The shocked faces of my friends.

Cyborg, staring at me with disbelief, Beastboy, eyes locked on the floor, Raven, hiding her emotions and finally Starfire, wide-eyed and her hands clasped over her mouth.

What had I done?


	5. In your head

A/N: Sorry for the long wait but I sort of had writer's block. This chapter is a bit shorter but I felt it was legitimate since it takes place over a very short period of time. Plus now I have more time on my hands again and might update more often.

* * *

Darkness, endless streets.

I was running, running for my life.

Or maybe I wasn't.

Maybe I was running for somebody else's life.

Had I killed him?

I didn't know.

But I couldn't go back to check either. They were still there. My friends were still there. I couldn't face them.

I couldn't face myself.

I had not seen the beast I had turned into, they had stared directly at its bared fangs.

There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Yet I ran. Aimlessly through the city. Jump City, the place I had sworn to protect.

But I couldn't even protect it from myself.

I had become a monster.

Uncontrollable.

I had nowhere to go.

An entire world full of different people, cities and terrains yet I had nowhere to go.

Everywhere there would be people I could hurt and if I tried isolating myself my inner beast would take over and slaughter whatever came in its way.

I had felt the rage, I had felt it taking over. I had felt how powerless I was against it. It let me regain control because it had satiated its hunger. Because _I_ had satiated its hunger.

I was a prisoner in my own body, in my own mind, in my own city.

Every street, every lantern, every house, they were all staring at me. They could all see me running from something I couldn't run away from.

Was the monster still visible on my face?

I hoped for and feared it. If it was visible everyone would be warned the moment they saw me, if it was it meant I was a monster even when I was in control.

The people in the streets, they couldn't see me, I was too fast. I was freshly nourished, I was more powerful than I had ever been. But the price for it had been to high.

The price for it had been me.

My heart wasn't beating anymore, Robin, Richard Grayson had died. Now I was a heartless monster moving my former body like a puppet to lure in my prey. I knew that was what the monster wanted: more blood.

I couldn't give it more blood, more death. This time there wouldn't be anyone to stop me. I was sure that if it had been anyone else I would have torn that person to shreds. But not Raven. The monster respected Raven.

But that would not be forever. She couldn't hold me back every time. Eventually the monster would get over it and attack her. Eventually I would kill her.

I couldn't contain the monster and neither could she.

Was there anyone who could?

I stopped dead in my tracks. An old lady next to me looked like she was close to a heart attack, to her I must have appeared out of thin air. After her seconds of shock she quickly scurried past me, trying to convince herself that her eyes were getting worse.

But I didn't care about that, I had found a possible solution.

There was someone who could contain me.

Someone who could contain a _vampire_.

Someone who could _kill_ a vampire.

Someone who could instil fear in my heart even though I had known him for a very long time.

Someone I trusted with my life.

I started running again but this time I knew exactly where I was going.

Gotham.


	6. Why am I ticking?

A/N: Tried to make it a little longer this time, it doesn't feel longer though so I think I failed. I will try again though, soon. For this story I always picture the Nolan Batman, mixed with a little bit of the Michael Keaton Batman in terms of the women.

* * *

Gotham.

The only consistent lady in my life.

I moments like this she was beautiful. I could forget all the crime and corruption when the sun disappeared behind the skyscrapers, covering everything in liquid gold, a last desperate attempt to make Gotham as wonderful as she was supposed to be.

A smirk crossed my face. I knew exactly where I would be going first.

Contrary to popular belief I was not randomly beating criminals to a pulp whenever I came across them. My first priority had been drug trafficking. I had taken out all the major organs and had kept it at bay ever since.

Of course I could not keep out all the small time dealers and meth labs but the big dogs were all chased out. Now another one was trying to sneak in and I was going to stop him.

No abandoned warehouses this time. Instead a private plastic surgery practice, used for money laundering. Clever, but they had overlooked that trying to offer drugs to Bruce Wayne, just because he was rumoured to take some was not the best idea. I would have found them sooner or later but having their operation practically delivered to my doorstep was very convenient, it saved time.

It was a nice practice, a calming peach colour on the outside, a red roof, roses in the garden. I took out my cell phone and put on the voice scrambler. I decided to use the voice of the mild mannered journalist that had interviewed me a while ago.

"911 Emergency", I heard on the other side.

"I am at the Lacura practice downtown, there are strange men here and they seem to be moving packets of white powder, I think they're drug dealers", I said as mild mannered as I could.

"We will be there in a few minutes, do not engage them on your own", the voice informed me. The woman on the other side of the line sounded like a nice and reasonable person, too bad I would not be following her advice.

The security system was easy, a few cables and it was disabled. Same went for the power lines. Confused and in the dark, there were no easier targets.

Two men were relaxing, playing cards next to what looked like the latest shipment, they did not see me come from the deep shadows that their tabletop flashlight was tossing.

One man was doing accounts, he looked surprised when he was knocked out, he must have been concentrating very hard to see in the dark. I was probably saving him from ruining his eyesight.

Another man was sleeping on one of the patient beds, there was no danger from him.

Surprisingly the head behind this was a woman. She was talking aggravated on her cell phone. She was standing next to the normal phone so she was obviously continuing a conversation that had been cut short by the blackout.

I was not being sexist but all of the drug traffickers I had taken out so far had been men. Then again, this was a new approach for such a business.

I snatched the phone from her before knocking her out. The number was not hidden, I would investigate it later.

Right on cue I heard police sirens approach in the distance. I had trained them well.

It was time for me to disappear back into the night.

Now I started listening to the police radio. There was not much of interest until…

"Units two, three and six, there is a robbery at the blood bank in Gotham Central, I repeat, robbery at the blood bank of Gotham Central", came the heated words of a police officer.

Stealing blood, what an odd crime to commit, unless you were a vampire of course, I had to check to make sure.

The crime scene was messy, the wall of the room had been blasted open with what were either fists or air pressure, there were no scorch marks on the white paint.

Before I could examine the crime scene however someone grabbed me by the shoulder. I whipped around to see who was daring and skilled enough to sneak up on me and was surprised to find Robin standing there, looking terrified.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry", he pleaded.

"What is wrong? What are you sorry for?", I searched him for clues.

He was pale white and his posture was that of a frightened small child, he seemed to be shivering but not from the cold.

"For being a monster", he whispered, staring past me.

"You broke into the blood bank", I concluded, why else would he be staring at the busted wall.

"It was the only way. If I hadn't it would have started killing", came the reply, his voice almost broke with every word.

"What would have started killing?", I tried to get more information out of the boy.

I could not be too rough with my interrogation, he was shaken after all, but if there was someone or something killing people I needed to know. He knew that, too. Still I had to at least try to comfort him in some way.

I put my hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

He felt cold. Maybe he was suffering from blood loss, or had stayed out for too long. Possible was also a low blood sugar, he had had that a couple of times back then when I had started training him.

Or he was in shock.

Considering that he had for some reason needed to rob a blood bank and was now talking about something willing to take lives it was the most likely option.

Robin continued to stare past me with blank eyes, I may not have been able to see them directly, but I could read him even through the mask. He was my ward after all, I had known him for years and never had I seen him like this.

I had seen him scared, enraged, close to losing control, hateful, stricken with a fever, half frozen to death and drugged, but never had he been like this.

There had never been an absolute and profound fear of every coming second like he was showing now. It reminded me a little of the professor after he had learned that his colleague had planted a bomb inside him.

Was there a bomb inside Robin?

In case there was, that might be why he had robbed the blood bank, someone had threatened that if he did not do it the bomb would blow.

But he had phrased it in an odd way. 'Start killing' instead of 'go off' or 'blow up', even if he was being threatened with something like a deadly virus he would have said 'spread' instead of 'start killing'. It made no sense to me.

He looked up at me.

His expression was speaking of the desire to flee and something else. Almost as if he was pleading me to do something.

Then suddenly I saw him differently, not as the young man he now was, but seven years old, scared by the world, vulnerable, defenseless and small.

Whatever it was, it had had a great effect on him.

And I was sure I didn't like it.

"My monster."


	7. Third time's a charm

I had hoped to see the boy again, not in the Jump City news, mind you, but in person. I had wanted to talk to him, inquire about how his life had gone without us and such things.

But all questions had been wiped from my mind, seeing his expression.

"Don't go near him", Bruce had told me, jaw firmly set and seemingly regretting something.

Knowing him I didn't have to guess. Whatever had made Richard look like that and even come back to Gotham must have been very horrible. Of course Bruce was blaming himself for that, for letting him go, for not being able to protect him. It was who he was.

I went on to prepare breakfast, I was sure they were hungry. It irked me that I could not talk to Richard. I knew for certain that he had accepted me as one of the few authority figures in his life and one of the few people he trusted completely. Yet I could not reassure him and I was certain he needed reassurance.

I wondered why. It could not have been a risk of infection, Bruce had been freely touching him by the shoulder and even if he had already been infected himself he would not have risked spreading it through the corridors.

I could also rule out mere psychological trauma, I would have been able to help with that and Bruce would not have told me to stay away from him.

It had to be something else.

"Don't bother making it for three, Dick won't be joining us for breakfast", he said , standing behind me all of a sudden. That was one of the habits he only dropped when he was Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy and owner of Wayne Enterprises.

"Is he leaving already?", I turned around to him, carrot paring in my hands.

"No, he's staying here, he's just not having breakfast, not today and not ever again", he hit the wall with his fist, which caused the jars on the spice rack to shake.

A horrible thought came to me.

"He is not dying, is he?", I searched his expression for clues.

"No need, he's already dead", the bitterness in young Master Bruce' expression was more that visible, it was almost tangible.

After a few seconds he turned to me. I had not noticed my shock was so evident on my face until his eyes widened.

"Not dead like that, he's become a vampire… somehow", he shook his head. I heard disbelief in his voice.

"Shall I buy some blood then?", I inquired.

He looked at me for a long time. So long actually I almost considered going back to my cooking.

"That might be a good idea… and maybe some cow blood from the butcher as well", he turned around to leave.

"I need to make a phone call", he seemingly remembered on his way out.

I could hear him dial the phone in the hallway and continued to make chips from the brown lumpy potatoes in front of me.

"Hey Lucius, it's me Bruce… No, actually, I need a cage… Do I look like that kind of person? …that's a job for the police, not Batman… Then I would've asked for the cage earlier… No, I don't… The strongest one you have… Unfortunately the person isn't human and experimenting now might not be the best idea… As soon as possible… Tomorrow sounds good… I'll just rent a van, the helicopter would draw too much attention… While we're at that, would you mind organizing a donation for Gotham Central? I hear there has been a break-in which caused a lot of damage… Nope, it was already wrecked when I came there… Then I'm not gonna hold you up any longer… Until tomorrow", he put down the receiver.

"A cage, Sir?", I called out to him.

"His own request and it sounds like a good idea", he sighed.

The cage was solid steel, thick metal bars that seemed so unnecessary. Richard was dressed in some of his old clothes now, reading what looked like the phonebook. I had tried offering him a better lecture but he had only answered that coming near him, even with the cage was too dangerous. According to Bruce it had been 50 hours since his last meal and I could see he was getting more and more agitated.

Bruce had made a couple of phone calls but judging from his mood none of them had been successful.

I was at a loss what to do. None of my contacts would help and nothing I knew was needed in this situation.

I could only watch over Richard via the security camera and hope it would turn out alright.

I worried for the boy and I was not the only one. A few hours ago a girl had called, asking if 'Robin' was here, the concern in her voice had been more than obvious. So he had found friends then, that was a small source of comfort. Bruce had told her that he was in good hands.

Every now and then he would go talk to him but it did not seem to help, from what I understood Richard refused to drink any blood, he would turn away if offered any so Bruce stopped.

The hours passed and he changed. At times he would grip the book tightly and not move for a few minutes. Eventually he threw the book aside and stood up, pacing in the cage. By morning he was throwing himself against the bars, desperately trying to get out.

"His monster has taken over", Bruce' voice was dark. He turned towards the door.

"You don't plan on going in there, do you, Sir?", I faced him with an expression that told him exactly what I thought of that idea.

"It's the only way to know for certain", he left.

I could not help but watch the screen intently.

There was no audio, only sound so when Bruce entered, raised his hands in a very non-threatening way and spoke I could not hear him. No doubt he was reassuring Richard.

The boy was gripping the steel bars tightly and baring his teeth. I doubted he really understood anything that was spoken. I was not much of a lip-reader but the word 'focus' was unmistakable amongst the thing said to Richard.

The boy seemed to calm down, he was staring at his warden now with big eyes and a blank expression.

A few more lines from Bruce and he even closed his eyes in what could only be concentration.

The young master closed his eyes as well so he could better guide Richard through this.

That was what the monster had waited for. In one quick movement the bars were bent and he had latched himself onto the cervical artery of the man that had wanted to help him.

I rushed out to… I was not entirely sure what I planned on doing once I was there but it seemed like the right thing to do.

The scene that presented itself to me was fortunately not the one I had pictured in my mind.

Bruce sat on the floor, one hand pressed onto the wound on his neck. No doubt if I asked him how he was he would answer 'peachy'. So I didn't ask.

Richard was standing a few feet away from him, hands clasped over his mouth, looking shocked.

"Don't worry, it's not bad", Bruce said, sounding a bit surprised.

"Do you require stitches, Sir?", I asked, helping him up.

"Band-aid should be enough", he shook his head.

"No need, it'll be healed in a few minutes… at least that's what happened with Beastboy", Richard said.

I turned my head to him, he had actually said something. He had sounded exhausted, regretful but not quite so frightened anymore.

"Well, Beastboy is special", I threw an odd look at him before moving my attention to the boy.

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips before his face went blank again.

That was the Richard I remembered.


End file.
